Turning Of The Tide (Natalie and Trevon) novel Chapter 21

At 2:13 pm.

The light streamed through the window, casting its brilliant glow upon Sherri's eyes, too intense to bear. She winced and squinted. Her head felt as though it were encased in a dense cloud of cotton, causing her great discomfort.

Extending her arms in a languid stretch, she arched her back lazily, emitting a hearty yawn, and opened her eyes, only to be struck with the scene in front of her.

"Oh, shit..." she thought. "Where am I now?"

The surroundings and the furnishings of the room were unfamiliar. It was clearly not her own room.

Her mind reeled in confusion.

"Could it be possible that last night I have been taken away by a strange man, and then..."

Thinking of this, Sherri immediately threw back the covers to inspect the lower half of her body. After ensuring there was nothing wrong and finding her clothes unchanged from the day before, she breathed a sigh of relief!

Involuntarily, she instinctively patted her chest.

She attempted to make a sound, but her cheeks were so sore that articulating even a single word proved difficult.

Surveying her surroundings, her gaze collided with an array of vibrant balloons, triggering a fuzzy recollection that played out hazily in her mind. She shook her head and slowly recalled a night of drunken madness. And she even kept blowing balloons all night!

"Oh my, this was not true!" Sherri couldn't believe it. She yearned to disappear from this world!

While soothing her aching, swollen cheeks, she contemplated her next move.

Sherri was well aware of her proclivity for drunken madness. To dissuade her from getting drunk outside and being obstreperous at home, Edward had purposely captured her intoxicated state on video as a stern warning.

Every time she contemplated indulging, she would watch the playback of that video first.

Upon viewing it, any desire to drink dissipated, replaced only by an overpowering sense of shame that made her want to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Anyway, the most important thing was to get out of here first.

Swiftly rising from the bed, she tidied her attire and prepared to make her stealthy escape. Just as she tiptoed toward the front door, a voice of deep and low magnetism from the living room halted her in her tracks. "Is this how you conduct yourself, Miss Landor? Sneaking away without uttering a word of gratitude?"

Sherri, who got caught, immediately regained her composure and feigned serenity. Straightening her stiff back, she gracefully turned around, came back to the living room, and said to Hackett with a smile plastered on her face, "What a fortuitous encounter, Mr. Blackwell."

Hackett possessed a flicker of mischief concealed beneath his gaze. "Encounter? This is my home."

Sherri's thoughts raced. "Damn it, how could I get so drunk that I followed this playboy to his residence?" she thought.

Swiftly regaining her composure, Sherri responded with a mischievous grin, feigning indifference to her embarrassment. "Well, thank you for taking care of me last night, Mr. Blackwell. I must return to work now. See you next time!" She longed to escape from this embarrassing situation.

She was certain that her drunken escapades from the previous night had been witnessed by Hackett.

Her perfect image had been damaged, and she only wanted to make a swift exit now.

Turning abruptly, Sherri made her way toward the door. However, Hackett couldn't let her go that easily. After all, she had caused enough disturbance for him last night, and the lingering ache from last evening was still fresh in his memory.

"It's 2:30 in the afternoon, Miss Landor. You're not scheduled at this time. And last night, Miss Landor, you were quite drunk..." Hackett exposed her without hesitation.

Sherri immediately halted, not wanting him to describe her drunken antics. She knew exactly what she looked like when she got drunk since her brother had described that countless times.

"Stop, Mr. Blackwell. Let's discuss something else. What happened last night was my fault... I crossed the line. I was just indulging in a bit of alcohol. Can we just put it behind us? Just tell me what to do to let you keep it a secret."

Leaning lazily against the door frame, Hackett scrutinized her with his eyes. "Well, Miss Landor, you're a smart woman. It appears you are well aware of your drunken antics. Very well, let's first talk about the cost of the 500 balloons I bought for you. Since I've bought those balloons especially for you, I have to increase the price a bit. As for the expenses incurred from taking care of you last night, we'll settle those separately."

"Wait, what did you say? 500 balloons?" Sherri's voice rose abruptly, and a sharp pain flushed her cheeks, reminding her once again of the foolishness she had exhibited last night.

"Yes. You requested 500 of them last night, Miss Landor." Sherri was rendered speechless. No wonder her lips trembled with each word she spoke.

"How reckless have I been to ask for 500 balloons last night? Could it be that this scoundrel was making a hare of me?"

She was skeptical about what Hackett said, but it was true that she would go crazy after drinking.

He paused for a moment and said, "But... you're lucky I stopped you before you blew up 500 balloons. Otherwise, you may have facial paralysis today. But it still surprised me that you actually blew up 250 balloons in total. Thanks to my big house, you were able to get enough room to put them all." Hackett's face was calm and collected, even though he was lying.

Last night, he wanted to play tricks on Sherri to vent his anger, so he had forced Frank to buy the balloons, but unexpectedly, once Sherri saw the balloons, she would focus on blowing them up and didn't tie them up afterward.

She had pestered him to help her tie up the balloons, and in the end, not only had she blown up 250 balloons, but he also had to tie up 250 balloons. His hands were now still a little shaky, and he had to hide his shaking hands in his pocket.

Hackett still could hardly believe that he had actually stayed up all night with her, tying up balloons until his hands went numb.

Sherri closed her eyes and took a bite of her lip before saying, "Alright, how much? Cash or PayPal?"